Study Says Too Few College Students Get Flu Vaccine

Not enough college students are getting vaccinated for the flu, according to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center study. The research asked 4,000 college students in North Carolina whether or not they had received a flu shot. Dr. Tim Peters was an author of the study and is a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases.

Tim Peters: "We found that about 20-percent of them had been vaccinated. And that number is quite a bit lower than we would like."

He says the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a goal to vaccinate 80-percent of healthy people by the year 2020. Peters says the vaccination is especially important for college students living in dormitories. And in the future he would like to see campus-wide vaccination days, or offering shots at major sporting events.

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State health officials report the first two deaths from flu in North Carolina this season.

It is said to be one of the earliest reports of flu deaths the state has seen. Both victims were in the Triad. One was said to be a high-risk case because of age. The other was generally healthy. Zack More is a state epidemiologist. He says both cases show the flu cannot be taken lightly.